> LETTERS EDITORIAL BOARD
Dispelling misconceptions about developmentally challenged children > Finally, an article that demonstrates how the developmentally challenged are individuals, with their own likes, dislikes, and the capacity to make choices in their everyday lives! (“Learning from Katie,” Sharing, July 2013.)* As the mother of a 24-year-old son with Down syndrome, I have much experience with developmentally challenged individuals and am well aware of how often our society and healthcare system underestimates them. As a young child, my son was frequently sick and hospitalized. Nurses at our children’s hospital seemed shocked when he spoke, and surprised that I thought he should do more than merely look and maybe smile when they examined him. I’d have to explain again and again that, although he had Down syndrome, he was a pretty typical child, crawling, climbing, getting into stuff, and communicating his wants. It always seemed to be an eye opener to them to think of him as a child first and his diagnosis second. Now my son is his own advocate by being active in our community. People see him at his work, helping at the food bank or church, or working out at the gym. He’s been on TV with his special hockey team and featured in a local paper for his artwork. Sadly, old misconceptions persist, particularly in healthcare where many professionals experience developmentally challenged patients only when they’re too sick to show what they can really do. Thank you for publishing an article that seeks to update nurses’ perspectives on these special individuals. —BARBARA DEVITT DRAKE, BNSc Carleton Place, Ontario
Bullies in the workplace >I didn’t recognize that I was bullied at my first nursing job (which I left after 3 months last December) until I read “Put a Stop to Bullying New Nurses” (June 2013).* The article calls for prevention to begin in nursing school by teaching students to recognize bullying behavior and learn how to stop it. However, in a very tight job market, new nurses feel lucky to have a job. They expect to be challenged to manage their new job and workload, so they might not recognize bullying.
When the newest nurse is given the most difficult assignments because she has no seniority, that’s bullying. When she’s berated by a supervisor at the nurse’s station, that’s bullying. And when everyone sees it and no one helps, that’s bullying. New nurses: When you find yourself 10 lb (4.5 kg) lighter without dieting, cry every day after work (and often at work), and feel like a spectacular failure at your job even though you know you’re intelligent and quite capable, you’re a victim of bullying. —NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST ■
Elizabeth A. Ayello, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, ETN, FAAN, FAPWCA, President, Ayello, Harris & Associates, Inc.; Faculty, Excelsior College School of Nursing, Albany, N.Y.; Senior Adviser, The John A. Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing and Program Director, Education Essentials, New York, N.Y. Michael R. Cohen, ScD, MS, RPh, President, Institute for Safe Medication Practices, and Member of the Sentinel Event Advisory Group for The Joint Commission, Horsham, Pa. Yvonne D’Arcy, MS, CRNP, CNS, Pain Management and Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner, Suburban Hospital-Johns Hopkins Medicine, Bethesda, Md. Michael W. Day, MSN, RN, CCRN, Trauma Nurse-Coordinator, Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, Spokane, Wash. Cheryl Dumont, PhD, RN, CRNI, Director, Nursing Research and Vascular Access Team, Winchester Medical Center, Winchester, Va. Martha M. Funnell, MS, RN, CDE, Codirector of the Behavioral, Clinical and Health Systems Intervention Research Core, Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center; Research Investigator in the Department of Medical Education; and Adjunct Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. Peg Gray-Vickrey, DNS, RN, Provost and VP for Academic and Student Affairs, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, Kileen, Texas. Elizabeth Heavey, PhD, RN, CNM, RN-BSN Program Director, Associate Professor of Nursing, The College at Brockport, State University of New York, Brockport, N.Y. Jeanne Held-Warmkessel, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, AOCN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pa. Frank Edward Myers III, MA, CIC, Infection Preventionist III, UC San Diego Health System, San Diego, Calif. Bill Pruitt, MBA, RRT, AE-C, CPFT, FAARC, Senior Instructor and Director of Clinical Education, Cardiorespiratory Sciences, School of Allied Health, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Ala. Susan Simmons, PhD, RN, ARNP-BC, Family NP, College Park Family Care Center, Overland Park, Kan. Linda S. Smith, DSN, MS, RN, CLNC, Faculty Affiliate, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho Kristopher T. Starr, JD, MSN, RN, Attorney at Law, Ferry, Joseph & Pearce, P.A., Wilmington, Del.; Staff RN, Emergency Department, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Del.; Adjunct Nursing Faculty, Excelsior College, Albany, N.Y.; Supplemental Nursing Faculty, University of Delaware, Newark, Del. Jeff Strickler, MA, RN, CEN, CFRN, NE-BC, Director, Emergency Services, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, N.C.
* Individual subscribers can access articles free online at http://www.nursing2013.com. Send comments by e-mail if possible to [email protected]. Please, no attachments. Or send them to Letters Editor, Nursing2013, 323 Norristown Rd., Suite 200, Ambler, PA 19002-2758. Please include your name, credentials, complete mailing address, e-mail address (if applicable), and daytime phone number. Letters are edited for content, length, and grammar. Submission of a letter will constitute the author’s permission to publish it, although it doesn’t guarantee publication. Letters become the property of Nursing journal and may be published in all media. DOI-10.1097/01.NURSE.0000435199.50282.03
N1113
8 l Nursing2013 l November
www.Nursing2013.com
Copyright © 2013 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
Dispelling misconceptions about developmentally challenged children > Finally, an article that demonstrates how the developmentally challenged are individuals, with their own likes, dislikes, and the capacity to make choices in their everyday lives! (“Learning from Katie,” Sharing, July 2013.)* As the mother of a 24-year-old son with Down syndrome, I have much experience with developmentally challenged individuals and am well aware of how often our society and healthcare system underestimates them. As a young child, my son was frequently sick and hospitalized. Nurses at our children’s hospital seemed shocked when he spoke, and surprised that I thought he should do more than merely look and maybe smile when they examined him. I’d have to explain again and again that, although he had Down syndrome, he was a pretty typical child, crawling, climbing, getting into stuff, and communicating his wants. It always seemed to be an eye opener to them to think of him as a child first and his diagnosis second. Now my son is his own advocate by being active in our community. People see him at his work, helping at the food bank or church, or working out at the gym. He’s been on TV with his special hockey team and featured in a local paper for his artwork. Sadly, old misconceptions persist, particularly in healthcare where many professionals experience developmentally challenged patients only when they’re too sick to show what they can really do. Thank you for publishing an article that seeks to update nurses’ perspectives on these special individuals. —BARBARA DEVITT DRAKE, BNSc Carleton Place, Ontario
Bullies in the workplace >I didn’t recognize that I was bullied at my first nursing job (which I left after 3 months last December) until I read “Put a Stop to Bullying New Nurses” (June 2013).* The article calls for prevention to begin in nursing school by teaching students to recognize bullying behavior and learn how to stop it. However, in a very tight job market, new nurses feel lucky to have a job. They expect to be challenged to manage their new job and workload, so they might not recognize bullying.
When the newest nurse is given the most difficult assignments because she has no seniority, that’s bullying. When she’s berated by a supervisor at the nurse’s station, that’s bullying. And when everyone sees it and no one helps, that’s bullying. New nurses: When you find yourself 10 lb (4.5 kg) lighter without dieting, cry every day after work (and often at work), and feel like a spectacular failure at your job even though you know you’re intelligent and quite capable, you’re a victim of bullying. —NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST ■
Elizabeth A. Ayello, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, ETN, FAAN, FAPWCA, President, Ayello, Harris & Associates, Inc.; Faculty, Excelsior College School of Nursing, Albany, N.Y.; Senior Adviser, The John A. Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing and Program Director, Education Essentials, New York, N.Y. Michael R. Cohen, ScD, MS, RPh, President, Institute for Safe Medication Practices, and Member of the Sentinel Event Advisory Group for The Joint Commission, Horsham, Pa. Yvonne D’Arcy, MS, CRNP, CNS, Pain Management and Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner, Suburban Hospital-Johns Hopkins Medicine, Bethesda, Md. Michael W. Day, MSN, RN, CCRN, Trauma Nurse-Coordinator, Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, Spokane, Wash. Cheryl Dumont, PhD, RN, CRNI, Director, Nursing Research and Vascular Access Team, Winchester Medical Center, Winchester, Va. Martha M. Funnell, MS, RN, CDE, Codirector of the Behavioral, Clinical and Health Systems Intervention Research Core, Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center; Research Investigator in the Department of Medical Education; and Adjunct Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. Peg Gray-Vickrey, DNS, RN, Provost and VP for Academic and Student Affairs, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, Kileen, Texas. Elizabeth Heavey, PhD, RN, CNM, RN-BSN Program Director, Associate Professor of Nursing, The College at Brockport, State University of New York, Brockport, N.Y. Jeanne Held-Warmkessel, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, AOCN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pa. Frank Edward Myers III, MA, CIC, Infection Preventionist III, UC San Diego Health System, San Diego, Calif. Bill Pruitt, MBA, RRT, AE-C, CPFT, FAARC, Senior Instructor and Director of Clinical Education, Cardiorespiratory Sciences, School of Allied Health, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Ala. Susan Simmons, PhD, RN, ARNP-BC, Family NP, College Park Family Care Center, Overland Park, Kan. Linda S. Smith, DSN, MS, RN, CLNC, Faculty Affiliate, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho Kristopher T. Starr, JD, MSN, RN, Attorney at Law, Ferry, Joseph & Pearce, P.A., Wilmington, Del.; Staff RN, Emergency Department, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Del.; Adjunct Nursing Faculty, Excelsior College, Albany, N.Y.; Supplemental Nursing Faculty, University of Delaware, Newark, Del. Jeff Strickler, MA, RN, CEN, CFRN, NE-BC, Director, Emergency Services, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, N.C.
* Individual subscribers can access articles free online at http://www.nursing2013.com. Send comments by e-mail if possible to [email protected]. Please, no attachments. Or send them to Letters Editor, Nursing2013, 323 Norristown Rd., Suite 200, Ambler, PA 19002-2758. Please include your name, credentials, complete mailing address, e-mail address (if applicable), and daytime phone number. Letters are edited for content, length, and grammar. Submission of a letter will constitute the author’s permission to publish it, although it doesn’t guarantee publication. Letters become the property of Nursing journal and may be published in all media. DOI-10.1097/01.NURSE.0000435199.50282.03
N1113
8 l Nursing2013 l November
www.Nursing2013.com
Copyright © 2013 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
